GOSPEL REFLECTIONS OF POPE FRANCIS: 01/15/24 (Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time)

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From the Gospel according to Mark

Mk 2:18-22

The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast.

People came to Jesus and objected,

“Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast,

but your disciples do not fast?”

Jesus answered them,

“Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them?

As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.

But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them,

and then they will fast on that day.

No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak.

If he does, its fullness pulls away,

the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.

Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.

Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins,

and both the wine and the skins are ruined.

Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

Words of the Holy Father:

The law is at the service of man, that it is at the service of God, and for this reason man must have an open heart. The attitude of those who say “this is how it’s always been done...”, in reality, is born from “a closed heart”. Instead, “Jesus told us: ‘I will send the Holy Spirit and he will lead you to the full truth”. (…) Christians who are obstinate, saying ‘this is how it’s always been done, this is the way, this is the path’, are sinning: the sin of divination”. It is “as if they were to go to a palm reader”. In the end, “what has been said and what doesn’t change — by me and my closed heart” — becomes “more important” than “the Word of the Lord”. This “is also the sin of idolatry: stubbornness. (…)  “What is the path?”. We open our heart to the Holy Spirit, discern what is the will of God. (…) This “is the message that the Church gives us today: which Jesus says so firmly: ‘New wine in new wineskins!’”. Because, even customs must be renewed in the newness of the Holy Spirit, in the surprises of God. (Santa Marta, 18 January 2016)

Source:

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/word-of-the-day/2024/01/15.html

Amen +

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, be with us always until the hour of our death. Amen. +

May the Lord + bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. +

Examination of Conscience and Guide to Sacrament of Confession:

https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/examination-of-conscience/

Ultimate Catholic Parents Guide:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ls6IcexZAls

Summary and Defense of Catholic Teachings:

https://www.catholic.com/tract/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth